


One For The Enemy

by Biscuit Lion (cookiethelion)



Series: Valet Service [5]
Category: British Comedian RPF
Genre: Animal Transformation, Chinese Zodiac, Crack, Dog(s), Dragons, Fights, Horses, M/M, Master/Servant, Meta, Mild Language, Minor Injuries, Ox(en), Psychic Abilities, Tigers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-17
Updated: 2012-05-06
Packaged: 2017-11-03 19:52:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/385254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cookiethelion/pseuds/Biscuit%20Lion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Out of all the times for an ambush, why did it have to be at night in a forest?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by Samurottsan  
> \----
> 
> 1\. [Valet Service](http://archiveofourown.org/works/326601)  
> 2\. [Do-It-Yourself](http://archiveofourown.org/works/329398/chapters/531504)  
> 3\. [Shadow Puppets](http://archiveofourown.org/works/332687/chapters/537393)  
> 4\. [Three Of A Kind](http://archiveofourown.org/works/347835/chapters/565322)  
> 5\. [Goats & Dogs (and a Dragon)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/367242/chapters/596962)  
> 6\. **One For The Enemy**  
>  7\. [Leave In Summer...](http://archiveofourown.org/works/423707/chapters/708441)  
> 8\. [...Yet You're Here In My Fluffoughts](http://archiveofourown.org/works/456509/chapters/785402)  
> 9\. [World Is Mine](http://archiveofourown.org/works/493852)  
> 10\. [Hurting For A Very Hurtful Pain](http://archiveofourown.org/works/501077/chapters/879676)  
> \----
> 
> EDIT: So ... Daniel (and Chris) now know about this fic (Hi! *wave*). I hope I haven't terrified you too much ... D=  
> EDIT2: So ... now even Matthew and Humphrey (and maybe Thom, David R, Tom and Ben) have found this fic (Hi!! *wave*).  
> \----
> 
> DISCLAIMER:  
> I own nothing except the plot and Zodiac Valet concept. This fanfiction was written purely for fun, and not for profit. Any persons written is not intended to represent the real person.

“Chris – come on –”

Daniel craned his neck, looking out for their assailants, while he stood beside Chris, who was hunched over and throwing up for what must have been the fifth time in the last twenty or so minutes. Out of all the times for an ambush, why did it have to be at night in a forest?

It wasn’t long before Chris straightened and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, albeit while running behind Daniel; there would be time to clean up later. In the distance, they could hear footsteps chasing them. One of Chris’ glowing hands clung onto Daniel’s wrist; he flung the other behind himself, and a bolt of lightning shot into the darkness. He knew it was more than useless, but it would buy them time.

“No good –” Another wave of nausea struck him, and he slowed down as he clutched his stomach.

Daniel looked over his shoulder, rolled his eyes, and switched places with Chris. There was no way they would be able to get out if he had to keep stopping. “I need your hand.”

Chris complied, and as he kneeled over again, he shifted his grip. Daniel’s other hand was raised head-height, his palm open and prepared for an attack.

Seconds later, their male pursuer emerged, followed by the female. They seemed to mirror each other; they were the same height and body size, and they both wore a blouse, pants and waistcoat under a waist-length silk cloak. Their faces were hidden behind full-length black and white masks, but what was most noticeable was the gold Gemini-shaped brooch pinned to their waistcoats.

Daniel wasn’t striking, but rather biding his time. As they had learnt fairly early on, it was better to wait for the right time than hope for the best.

His timing was ruined when another thunderbolt shot past his waist, and would have hit if their assailants didn’t jump to the side. Nonetheless, Daniel swung one way and Chris the other, while being careful to maintain their hold. Their free hands outstretched, they waited, their eyes following their opponents, watching as they hopped between trees, circling to their targets – 

“NOW.”

If both Valets were holding glowing hands, they had control over two powers – and when Daniel and Chris attacked, a mixture of air and electricity shot out of their hands. The female dodged Daniel’s, but Chris managed to hit his target, and the male retreated, albeit briefly. He rubbed his chest, and then threw one deer horn knife at the connecting hands.

Chris and Daniel jumped apart to avoid being struck. The former propped against a tree, clutching his stomach again as the nausea returned; Daniel yelled something, but he couldn’t hear as he chose that moment to start retching.

With Chris down, Daniel was distracted by the female, who was doing a good job of circling him. He didn’t want to attack, not in the least because Chris was now in danger of being hit, and his attempts to hit his actual target made him unaware of another ambush – 

“Behind you –”

Chris’ warning came in time; Daniel threw himself forward, seconds before he would have otherwise been stabbed in the ribs by the tip of the knife. He got to his feet, and then stumbled over his side-step as the female swiped at his head with her deer horn knife, missing his ear by less than an inch.

He retreated as the male slashed at his chest, but before he could rebound, Chris, now as a Bengal tiger, rammed his opponent into the ground, his claws close to cutting his ear lobe; behind him, the female leapt, her knife pointing down at him. His position made him unable to move without releasing the male, but his move had given Daniel the chance to change into his half-horse form, who galloped past and kicked her in the chest, forcing her back.

Chris roared and rolled off the male, blood dripping from the right side of his ribs; he was human again and slumped on the floor, his left hand clasping his wound. Daniel ran over and, now also human, skidded to his knees. He placed a hand on Chris’ shoulder and helped him sit up; despite his winces and heavy breathing, his wound didn’t seem as serious as Daniel had been expecting it to be.

“Chris…”

“I’m … fine …” Chris shifted, and then crossed his right arm over his abdomen so that he could hold onto Daniel’s hand.

Daniel took it, and raised his other hand in front. Their assailants had recovered, and were heading their way, knives raised and poised –

Something tackled the female to the ground, and another figure jumped onto the male. To both Daniel and Chris’ amazement, they recognised them as being Shappi and Thom, respectively, albeit now in their half-animal forms. Neither of them had called their leaders, so how they found them was a mystery – 

Shappi was engaged in arm-to-arm combat with the female, and Thom was clinging onto the male, using his claws to scratch him as much as possible while trying to unclip his brooch. Both leaders had occasionally thrown glances at Daniel and Chris, and they knew they had to stay back and make sure the latter wasn’t going to pass out on them. Daniel doubted it though; Chris’ hand wasn’t badly stained, and he seemed to be tolerating the pain.

Thom shrieked as he landed on the ground, distracting Shappi long enough for her opponent to whack her on the side of her head with the blade’s handle. As she too retreated, Daniel wanted to get up but Chris tugged his hand, and Daniel, knowing what he meant, threw his other arm into the air. Above them, rain clouds formed, followed by a thunderclap; Chris was wincing again, although this time he was concentrating on making sure Daniel had enough power to keep up their move.

Thom got up just as a gust blew into him and the male, forcing them to slide backwards; behind them, Shappi and the female were also struggling, though not as badly. A thunderbolt struck the ground, forcing Thom and the male apart; seconds later, the same happened with Shappi.

The assailants tried to take a step forward, but were forced back with another thunderclap and a burst of flames that almost singed their masks. Recognising defeat, they glanced at each other before running away in the opposite direction. Nobody tried to follow them, not when they had Chris to attend to.

“Chris, are you alright?” said Shappi as she and Thom joined their members.

Chris broke his grasp in order to shake off the attention, despite the fact he looked ready to pass out. “It’s just a cut, I’ll live.”

“Cut? He fucking stabbed you,” said Daniel.

Chris didn’t bother responding, but tried to stand up, as if to prove his point; his arm, however, shook and gave way, and he collapsed backwards. Daniel caught him, and he resorted to resting his head on his shoulder.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said. “I had to help you chase … whoever they were away.”

“They must have been Valet Gemini,” said Thom.

“How did you find us?” said Daniel.

“Emergency calls.”

“Ooooh … how the fuck did I forget about that?” Whenever a Valet was in trouble, they would subconsciously send an emergency call via their Items, which gave their leader enough information to find them as quickly as possible. Nobody could doubt whether an emergency call was real or not; Valets couldn’t control when they sent it.

“Come on, we need to get you to hospital,” said Shappi. “Tuck, can you alert the other leaders about Valet Gemini?”

“No problem.”

“Can I come with you?” said Daniel. Although he was asking Shappi, his eyes were fixed on Thom.

“Go on,” he said. “I need to get back to –”

“Shappi, _really_ , I’m fine,” said Chris. “It’s – argh –” He had tried to sit up again, but he was still too weak.

“No you’re bloody not,” said Daniel. He wrapped his arms around his waist, and was tempted make his grasp firmer, but judging by Chris’ condition, he probably didn’t need to be any harder.

“You’re not going anywhere,” said Shappi. She took out her phone. “Where are we?”

“We’re … I don’t know.” Now that Shappi mentioned it, it struck them that they had always referred to the place as ‘the usual’ but never by its actual location. They weren’t even sure who had found it first, or how it became the place that _every_ Clan leader went to for meetings with their members.

“Seeing as I’m heading back to the house, I’ll find out for you,” said Thom. “I’m sure we can Google the place or something.”

“Thanks Tuck. Bye.”

“Bye.” With that, Thom disappeared, leaving the other three Valets behind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> *******ATTENTION*******  
> 
> 
>   
> 
> 
> This is the first update since #slashtag happened, and before you scroll down to read it, I want to make a request. Please **do not** Tweet Matthew, Humphrey, Daniel or anybody else involved about updates; just let them find the fic again  if they want to. I don't want to be scarred for the third time, nor do I want anymore sleepless nights, lack of appetite, or become paranoid about Twitter again. It's also difficult trying to write without thinking about who could be reading this; it's an added pressure I don't need.
> 
> I trust that everyone reading this will be sensible enough to realise this, but you never know.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> ~Biscuit Lion
> 
> NB: This may be my last update for about 3-4 weeks, but I might be able to slip one in before 6 May.
> 
> NB 2: I will no longer be tagging new characters unless their tags already exist. I'm doing this because I don't want the series to be too clustered, and there's also no point in creating new tags only to have them used once.

Humphrey had a feeling Milton had occupied himself overnight. The bathroom was the shiniest he had ever seen, it was impossible to find any dust on the floorboards, and the windows were open, still drying from what looked like an overdone cleaning. He didn’t mind that, but when he saw that Milton had also arranged the mail into a pile from largest to smallest, he figured it was about time to talk to him.

That was, if Humphrey could catch him; Milton kept disappearing in and out of his room, ignored him, and did things so absent-mindedly that for a moment, Humphrey wondered whether he had slipped into his stage persona. Nonetheless, he soon cornered Milton in the kitchen, although he did nothing to stop him from giving the sink another cleaning, despite already being able to see his reflection inside it.

“Milton … MILTON.”

“What – oh. It’s you.”

“Of course it’s me, who else lives here?”

“…Sorry.”

“…What’re you apologising for?” Pause. “Never mind. What’s happened?” No answer; instead, Milton continued to clean the sink. “Milton … tell me what’s happened, _and that’s an order_.”

Milton threw the cloth into the sink as he turned to look at Humphrey. His left hand was gripping the brim, but his right was hovering over the surface, his fingers clawed into a talon, but his palm wasn’t glowing – yet.

“Do you remember the Western Valets?”

“Yes … sort of. Aren’t they your nemesis or something…?”

“That’s close enough.” Pause. “What I said back then … I was right.”

“About what?”

“Last night, Tuck and K – I mean, another leader – their members were ambushed by Valet Gemini.”

“…Are they alright?”

“Someone was stabbed, but we’re lucky it didn’t go in deep. Stop worrying, Valet Gemini’s strongest against tigers, I’m at no disadvantage if I have to fight.”

“So why are _you_ worried?”

“I haven’t heard from my tiger member yet, and I want to make sure he’s OK.” Milton tightened his grip on the sink. “You don’t have to –”

A ‘clank’ echoed from Humphrey’s room, and neither man could fail to recognise it as Milton’s Item; someone was calling him. Humphrey stepped aside, and let his Valet race into his room to take it. Milton didn’t bother shutting the door behind him, and Humphrey watched him nearly run into the desk; when he had steadied again, he grabbed the jar. His pearl dropped to the side and rolled to the bottom as he picked up the call.

Milton had his back to Humphrey, and although the latter could neither see his face nor hear the conversation, he thought he saw him sag his shoulders and loosen his grip. He remained standing for a while, mumbled something, and then put his Item down again; he started when he realised the door was open, and as he made his way to the kitchen again, Humphrey backed away from his stare.

“I didn’t hear anything,” he said. He inched his hands above his head. “I promise.”

“I know. You wouldn’t be _this_ calm if you knew more.”

Pause. “So … was that your member?”

“Yes, he’s safe.” Another pause. Milton glanced over his shoulder to the front door, and then turned to look at Humphrey.

“What?”

“Is Matthew not coming round today?”

“What do you mean?”

“Normally at this point in the story, Matthew makes an appearance, I leave the flat really angry, and the plot continues.”

“Oh … I remember now, he said he’s not coming today because the author won’t allow him.”

“That’s unusual.”

“I know, but a, it gets a bit dull if you keep leaving because of him, and b, long before slashtag happened, she already planned out what’s going to happen in this instalment, and she hasn’t written in Matthew, Tom or Ben, so it seems pointless to change it now when she’s already got the first chapters up.”

“…Are you sure it’s not because she’s still slightly jumpy after slashtag?”

“I doubt it; if she really was, she would be changing next story’s plot, but she’s decided to stick with it. Hint hint.”

_(Author's Note: Let’s be honest, slashtag will only keep coming back. Anyway, half a page of meta/fourth wall breaking is enough now ~ Biscuit Lion)_

“What just happened?” said Humphrey after another pause.

“I have no idea.” Milton cleared his throat and was about to speak when he heard his Item hitting the jar again. He frowned as he went to take it; who could be calling him now? “Hello?”

“Leaders, I’m calling a meeting. If you can, meet me in the safe house in ten minutes.”

Milton put his Item down; he should have expected Bridges to start calling. He stayed still for a little longer, waiting for the doorbell to ring. Silence. It looked like Matthew really wasn’t going to be written into this story.

Humphrey noticed how Milton seemed to bounce out of his room, and he said, “Who was it?”

“Another leader. I’ve got a meeting to go to,” said Milton.

“…And that’s made you happy?”

“No, it’s because Matthew really _isn’t_ going to make an appearance at all in this part.”

“I thought the author said she was done breaking the fourth wall?”

_(A/N: NOW that’s enough meta/fourth wall breaking ~ Biscuit Lion)_

“She is now.” Pause. Milton tried to ignore what he just said as he climbed onto the windowsill. “Forget that. Anyway, I need to go, and I don’t think I’ll be back soon, so … don’t look at me like that. There’s enough food in the fridge to keep you full for two days, and if you run out, there _is_ a thing called a local supermarket.”

“I’m not worried about that.”

“Then why are you – oh, it’s about Ma –”

“Stop breaking the fourth wall and go.”

***

Milton had been expecting the safe house to be occupied with every other Clan leader, but when he landed in the back garden, he could hear nothing. As he approached the back doors, he glanced through the window; apart from his reflection, he could see nobody else.

He unlocked the door and walked in, only to be tackled to the ground and kissed several times on his cheek. He was too exasperated to respond straight away, and instead waited until the worst of the ambush had passed; he clenched his glowing hands into talons, and clicked his fingers. The load on his back lightened as a breeze blew over his head, and he stood up; Thom also getting up, and Shappi was standing by the doorframe, her arms crossed.

“Alright, sweetheart?”

“It’s Milton. I _was_ alright until I saw you.”

“Leave him alone, Tuck,” said Shappi. She walked closer to them and waited for Milton to finish locking the door again. “How’s David doing?”

“If you mean Mitchell, Valet Gemini hasn’t got to him yet. If you mean Reed, I don’t know. We haven’t talked since …” Milton glanced at Thom as a way of finishing; although they were just about being civil to each other, they still hadn’t made up properly since the ladybird affair. Thom avoided the other leader’s stare, and Shappi glanced at them before she cleared her throat.

“That’s good to hear,” she said. By now, she had stepped in between Milton and Thom. “Chris’ healing well; he’s lost some blood, and we’re lucky that’s the worst of it.”

Silence. Shappi remained between them for a little longer, and, deciding that the other leaders weren’t about to tear at each other’s throats again, she moved out of the way. Milton remained on the spot; Thom sided over and tried to put his waist around him, but he slapped him on the wrist.

“Didn’t Bridges call this meeting?” said Milton at last. “Where is he? Where is everyone else?”

“No idea. He said ten minutes, didn’t he?”

“Yes – get _off_ , Tuck.” Thom was trying to piggy back him, but Milton was shuffling around, trying to throw him off.

“Come on Tuck, leave Jones alone.” Thom halted, and then slipped off Milton. The latter straightened up, and walked over to Shappi.

“Why does he _always_ listen to you?” he said.

“I guess he likes you more.”

“Like? You call this – _don’t_ bother, Tuck.” Even though Milton had his back turned to the other leader, he knew him enough to suspect that something would happen.

“Oh _come on_ sweetheart, I –”

Milton started as a headache began to burn in his mind. He recognised it as being Item related, but he had never felt it at that intensity or speed before; disoriented, he stumbled backwards, treading on Thom’s toes in the process.

“Sweetheart?”

“Jones?”

Milton leaned against the wall, and he realised then that he wasn’t neglecting a call, but he was receiving an emergency call. He winced, and in the moment he shut his eyes, he saw the forest, followed by two people he had never seen before. Their appearance, however, was enough to alarm him, and when he noticed their brooches, he knew who he was facing against.

“Sweetheart? Hello?” Pause. Milton was still reeling from his first experience with an emergency call, let alone bother responding to the other leaders – although that wasn’t enough to block out Thom’s kiss to his lips, even if they did only brush over. Milton started and pushed him away, and Shappi walked over to Thom.

“What did you do that for?” said Milton as he wiped his mouth.

“I told you,” said Thom, although he was looking at Shappi.

“And I told _you_ this would happen,” she said. She turned back to Milton. “You got an emergency call, didn’t you?”

“How did you –”

“You should have seen the look on your face. Who was it?”

“Mitchell.” Milton blinked, caught out by his own words; how did he know that? “No time – Gemini – in forest –” He dashed for the door and unlocked it, though not without jabbing and missing the keyhole several times. Once he got through, he wasn’t even concerned about getting the key back – his member was in danger, and he had to go and help.

By the time Milton was in the air, Shappi and Thom had also left the house and were hot on his heels.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will definitely be my last update for about 3-4 weeks.

Milton hadn’t thought about how he was going to find David, but when he came within sight of the forest, a pillar of fire shot into the sky – and unless another Clan had gathered there, that had to be David’s. He looked down and pointed ahead; below him, Shappi and Thom looked up and nodded.

Milton went ahead and landed first. He had been right; no sooner had he touched the ground did he see David, staggering to his feet, surrounded by Valet Gemini. His tiger claws, ears and tail were showing, but he also looked rather ill, and the glow on his palms kept flickering. Milton didn’t care whether Shappi and Thom had caught up or not; using his powers, he shot ahead and tackled the female from behind, leaving David free to deal with the male.

By then, the other leaders had also arrived; Shappi ran to help David, and Thom to Milton. The latter was getting to his feet and rubbing his chest while his opponent stood facing him, the tip of her knife gleaming from under her sleeve.

“Well, sweetheart?” said Thom. His dog ears, claws and tails had formed, and he had shifted so that he was back to back with Milton.

“You go ahead, I’ll stay behind.”

“Oh no, sweetheart, I don’t roll like that. We stick together or else.”

“…What? You know I don’t –”

Milton and Thom dived, missing the knife that Gemini had thrown at them. She ran after it, and as she caught it again, she kicked a nearby tree, giving her the leg-up she needed to jump higher, albeit over Thom and pointing the knife down at him. She had hardly begun to descend when a gust knocked her off course, and she landed on her back, although she managed to retrain her grasp on her weapon.

Milton was already upstanding and had clenched both hands into talons by the time Thom had also got up; the latter jumped ahead and pinned her to the ground, albeit for a few seconds. She writhed a little, and somehow slipped out of his grasp; Thom steadied himself but it was evident that he was just as stunned with her move.

Taking advantage of her move, she sprung at Thom, knife sticking out in front; she would have stabbed him had Milton not tackled him out of the way in time. He could feel the tip scrape past his foot, but he refrained from trying to disarm or kick her aside; there would be time for that later.

Milton got up faster, and as he did so, he glanced at Shappi and David, but they didn’t seem to be doing any better either. David was kneeling and still looking as ill; his disadvantage against Valet Gemini was forcing Shappi to fight alone for the majority of the time.

“Behind you –”

Milton had no time to take in what Thom just said when it became _his_ turn to be knocked over. He nudged Thom off him, and was about to get up when he was forced to roll out of the way; seconds later, he heard the knife whizz past and slam into the ground, where his head had been.

He leapt to his feet, and clicked his fingers straight away; the gust veered the knife off course, giving Thom time to rush over to him. The weapon landed and skidded some distance away, but before Milton could click his fingers again to push it towards him, it was already gone, back in the hands of their opponent.

“Did you see that?” he said, looking over his shoulder. He was now back to back with Thom, their hands glowing as they prepared for another ambush.

“See what?”

“There’s no way they –” Milton was stopped as he felt Thom’s left hand slip into his right. His gut reaction was to fling him away like usual, but instead, he gritted his teeth and took in deeper, sharper breaths.

“Aww, I knew you wouldn’t mind, sweetheart.”

“Stop it, Tuck, you –”

“You don’t have to hide it.”

“– know I’m letting you because of –”

Thom linked his other arm with Milton and elbowed him in the back, forcing him down and giving him the necessary lift to kick their opponent out of the air. His heels struck her shoulder, but when she began to fall, she disappeared – and reappeared on where she would have landed.

Milton stood up again and flung Thom’s right hand off his left, and he raised it at her; the subsequent breeze would have pushed her over had she not jumped and disappeared again. This time, she didn’t appear anywhere in sight.

“Teleportation,” said Milton as he clenched Thom’s other hand. “That must be their power…”

“You’re holding –”

“I know Tuck, now help me out.” Milton threw his other arm into the air, and storm clouds began to gather. Thom leaned against him, and he seemed to be looking over his shoulder.

“What do you want me to do? Rain fireballs?”

“Not quite.” Milton wasn’t looking at Thom; instead, he kept glancing upwards, searching whatever parts of the trees he could see. He waited, looking for a little longer – and then aimed his arm at a point. A cyclone twisted past and aiming wherever Milton was pointing; Thom yelped and grabbed onto Milton’s forearm, the hem of his coat flapping from the force.

Milton glanced at him, and gripped his hand tighter; seconds later, a flame ignited at the tip of the force, guiding the way as it twisted upwards through the branches. Thom’s knees buckled as he partially slumped forward; Milton loosened his grip, but he kept the flame the same size – any moment now – 

He stopped altogether when he caught her diving out of the tree, only just missing the tip of the flame. Thom let go as well, but he remained leaning on Milton, breathing in and out heavily.

“Are you alright?” said Milton. He moved places so that he was shielding Thom.

“I will be, sweetheart, but don’t do that again.”

“I won’t for now.” Milton was waiting for their opponent to make a move, but she remained on the spot, also recovering; behind them, Shappi had managed to punch the male on his jaw, and he was staggering to his feet.

“What’s happening?”

“She’s not moving, and I can’t move with you on me. No, don’t – you need to recover.” Seeing as he was stuck on the spot, Milton clicked his fingers; the familiar gust blew past, and he had been expecting it to knock her over. Instead, she continued to remain motionless as the wind seemed to go straight through her.

Milton frowned, and Shappi’s fight caught his eye again. Even without David, she was gaining the upper hand; the male was struggling to defend from her blows, and seemed to have forgotten about his knife. Milton turned back to the female, and she remained as motionless as before.

“Sweetheart?”

“I think …” Milton clicked his fingers again, and the same happened; the gust seemed to pass through her. He turned to the male, and directed his next gust at him, although he also caught Shappi and David in the process; all three yelped as they were briefly unbalanced by the wind.

Milton had seen enough, and he looked over his shoulder. “Do you think you can use your powers again?”

“I think so.” Thom nudged himself upright, and seeing as he had his balance back, Milton seized his hand again. “Sweetheart, you –”

“Don’t, Tuck – don’t – we need to help Khorsandi.”

“I thought we –”

“Ignore her, she’s an illusion.”

“What?”

“I’ll explain later –”

A yelp cut across Milton, and he turned to see the male lying on the ground, beaten by Shappi. She knelt down and, as Milton and Thom walked over to her, she unclipped his brooch; behind them, the female also collapsed to the ground and faded, until she disappeared entirely. Nobody took any notice of her though; they were too busy examining the brooch.

“That’s it … Gemini’s brooch …” said Shappi as she turned over the item. “One down, eleven left…”

Thom leaned past Milton to get a better look; both men had forgotten they were holding each other’s hand, all their attention was on the brooch. There was something about seeing it in a leader’s hand, and not attached to its original owner, that made it so notable; it was both an oddity and an achievement.

As far as all the Zodiac Valets were aware, nothing happened if they touched a Western Valet’s brooch, but they had been warned to never let them do so much as lay a finger their Item. For master-bound Valets, it wasn’t much of a problem but, as Milton had worked out, it left nearly half his Clan exposed to whatever dangers there were (no-one had been eager to explain what exactly happened).

“What’re we going to do with them?” said Thom.

“I think it’s better if we give all leaders a brooch,” said Shappi. “We should –”

“Where’s Gemini gone?” said David. Milton glanced around, and where the two assailants had previously been, there was now an empty space. He glanced upwards, wondering if they were hiding in the trees, but he saw nothing. It seemed that they really were alone.

“It doesn’t matter where they’ve gone,” he said. “I don’t think they can do much without their brooch anyway. Anyway, Khorsandi, you were saying?”

“I’m worried what will happen if the Western Valets decide to take them back. I think we need to give these to the opposites, so … I’ll take this to Mack,” said Shappi.

Milton glanced at Thom. “…That means Valet Aquarius’ brooch goes to me?”

“And I’ll get Leo?” said Thom.

“Yes. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go and tell Mack he’s got a brooch to take care of,” said Shappi.

“David, I think it’s safer if you go with Khorsandi,” said Milton. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

David nodded, and he followed Shappi out of the forest. Milton watched them leave, and when they were out of sight, he turned to look at the spot where the female had been.

“Something wrong, sweetheart?”

“Valet Gemini was too easy. I’m concerned the other Western Valets are going to be so different, we won’t be as lucky or prepared for them.” Pause. “To be honest, I’m also concerned about my free members.”

“…You’re thinking about the warnings, aren’t you?”

“Yeah …”

Thom inched closer to Milton, and rested his head on his shoulder. Milton looked at him, yelped, and pushed Thom away as he flung their hands apart. How could he have forgotten they were still holding hands?

“Aww, come on sweetheart –”

“It’s Milton. No, Tuck, I am _not_ holding your hand if we’re not fighting.” By this point, Milton was already running, but Thom was chasing after him.

“You can be honest, sweetheart, you didn’t mind it.”

“No – that’s out of –” Milton leapt into the air just in time, leaving Thom, who had also jumped with the intention to hug him, tackling air and landing on the ground. Knowing Thom, he was going to be just fine after that, and Milton flew out of sight as fast as possible.

***

Milton had only just finished telling Humphrey what had happened when he had to pick up a call from his Item; as he expected, it was David telling him he was back in his household. He was expecting Shappi or Lee to call him later, but until then, he left Humphrey’s room and joined him outside.

“You have eleven left?”

“Yes. There’s no need to look like that, I’m only weak to Valet Leo. Once we’ve dealt with he or she, I can go back to doing everything for you until –”

“Another one comes along?”

“It’s not like you’re not used to me disappearing all the time.”

“Yeah, but what if you don’t …?”

“I never knew you cared so much for me.”

“What? No, Milton, don’t – you know what I mean.”

“No Zodiac Valet has ever died at the hands of a Western Valet, or the other way round, so you don’t need to worry.” Pause. “Anyway, I hope you’ve kept the place tidy.” Milton didn’t need a response to know that somewhere, there was a mess waiting for him to be cleaned up. Not that he minded; he would _always_ prefer this to dealing with the Western Valets.


End file.
